Sony's 3D PlayStation 3: Hands-on photos

By Nate Lanxon on 05 September 2009, 3:56pm

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We heard Sony was showing off a 3D PlayStation 3 here at IFA. Curious, we headed over to the enormous Sony stand, where we discovered a young boy -- DualShock controller in-hand, 3D glasses mounted on his visibly excited face -- playing the PS3's Wipeout racing game on a massive 3D television.

Naturally, we had to kick him off so we could have a play. For the next five minutes we blazed through the game's futuristic raceways with a perception of depth we've never experienced before, all presented in 1080p high-definition and vivid colour. And in just over a year, Sony told us it expects to be selling the same experience in Europe.

Today, our experience involved a standard PS3. All the three-dimensional horsepower comes not from a modified PlayStation, or even special versions of its games -- it's all down to some ingenious picture-processing technology inside a new Bravia TV (currently a prototype). This means it should work with all existing PlayStation 3 games. At least, that's the intention.

At the end of 2010, Sony plans to release this 3D Bravia for use with its games console. But over the following two or three years, we were told, it wants to build the picture-processing technology into the PlayStation itself. That way, gamers will be able to enjoy 3D gaming on any hi-def telly. Plans to incorporate the system into Blu-ray players, and even Vaio laptops, also exist.

The downside is that the picture-processing technology will only work for games -- it requires computer-generated imagery to function, so can't currently be applied to movies and TV shows.

But would that stop you investing? Does a 'PlayStation 3D' sound like your idea of gaming nirvana? Leave your thoughts below.